SCHEDULE UPDATE: Game One of the series originally scheduled for Friday has been postponed due to rain. The Championship Series will now begin with a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. with an if-necessary Game Three scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. All games of the series will be played on the campus of Messiah University. The story below has been updated to reflect these changes.
GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah baseball team will play for a MAC Commonwealth Championship this weekend when they host the Alvernia Golden Wolves for the best-of-three Championship Series. The Falcons are coming off a semifinal series victory over the York Spartans that took three games to complete while the Golden Wolves swept the Hood Blazers in two games last weekend. The series will now begin on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader at 1:00 p.m. Game Two is slated to begin immediately following Game One at approximately 4:00 p.m. If a Game Three is necessary, it is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. All games of the series are scheduled to be played at the Starry Baseball Field on the campus of Messiah University. Fans are encouraged to follow GoMessiah.com throughout the weekend for updates to gametimes.
Messiah is looking for the sixth Conference Championship in program history and first since the 2012 season. The Falcons previously claimed titles in 2003, 2005, 2008, 2011, and 2012. While the Golden Wolves are seeking their fourth MAC Commonwealth Championships after winning titles in 2013, 2015, and 2019. Messiah and Alvernia have squared off just once with a Conference Title on the line. Back in 2012, the Falcons claimed a thrilling 2-1 victory to clinch their most recent Conference Championship.
Fans should note, that since all games this weekend are part of the MAC Commonwealth Tournament, tickets are required. They can be purchased at the gate for the following prices: Adults - $8, Seniors (65+) - $6, Youth (7-17) - $6, MAC Students w/ ID – Free, 6 and under w/ adult – Free.
See below for projected starting pitchers a quick preview of the match-up:
Projected Starting Pitchers
Game One: Saturday, May 11 – 1:00 p.m.
Alvernia's Chris Sasso (6-3, 2.91 ERA, 55.2 IP, 49 K) vs. Messiah's
Jason Long (7-2, 3.41 ERA, 71.1 IP, 45 K)
Game Two: Saturday, May 11 – 4:00 p.m.
Alvernia's Nick Ferraioli (7-0, 2.47 ERA, 65.2 IP, 55 K) vs. Messiah's
Nathan Stein (9-1, 2.73 ERA, 69.1 IP, 74 K)
Game Three (if necessary): Sunday, May 12 – 1:00 p.m.
Alvernia's Jason Kelly (2-0, 3.06 ERA, 35.1 IP, 30 K) vs. Messiah's
Josh Nielsen (5-3, 4.80 ERA, 50.2 IP, 36K)
No. 1 Messiah Falcons – 33-9, 19-2 conference
The Falcons battled back through a tough MAC Commonwealth Semifinal Series with the York Spartans last weekend to earn their spot in the Conference Championship Series. York took the opening game by an 11-5 final score, with three Messiah runs in the ninth inning, making the score look closer than the game felt. The Falcons quickly shook off the loss and earned a 5-2 victory over the Spartans in Game Two of the series.
Dylan Beard delivered the big blow with a three-run homer down the left-field line in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Falcons their first lead of the series. The homer stood up as
Noah Barrall slammed the down with a three-inning save to earn the win.
Game Three started on a rainy Saturday afternoon, but after just two outs in the top of the first, play was suspended and resumed on Monday. The Falcons were on the board first, scoring two runs in the second and building a 4-0 lead. While the Spartans trimmed the lead to just two at 4-2, Messiah pulled away with five runs across the sixth, seventh, and eighth to earn a 9-2 victory and clinch the series.
The Falcons can win games in a wide variety of different ways. They boast a strong rotation with
Jason Long,
Nathan Stein, and
Josh Nielsen anchoring the top-three spots and a deep bullpen with arms like
Noah Barrall and
Christian Foltz. At the plate, Messiah's line-up can put runs on the board, averaging north of eight runs per game this season. Led by top-of-the-order bats like
Isaiah Parido,
Drew Hurst,
Joshua Ammons, and
Evan Wagaman the Falcons have seven everyday players that hold OPS over .860. The well-rounded squad continues to add to their program record for wins in a single season, shattering the previous record of 28 with their 32nd and 33rd victories in the semifinal round.
No. 2 Alvernia Golden Wolves – 26-15, 15-6 conference
Last weekend the Alvernia Golden Wolves swept the third-seeded Hood Blazers in two game in the MAC Commonwealth Semifinal Series. After allowing two runs in the top of the first on Friday, Alvernia scored six runs across the first and second innings of Game One to take a 6-2 lead after two frames. Both teams scored once in the eighth, but the Golden Wolves held on for the important 7-3 victory. In Game Two, Alvernia built a 3-0 lead, but later trailed 5-4 heading into the bottom of the eighth. The Golden Wolves plated three runs with a five-hit rally to snag a 7-5 lead and earn the victory, clinching a spot in the Conference Championship Series.
This season, Alvernia has played to a 26-15 overall record, but after a loss to Hood on Mar. 22 the Golden Wolves held an 8-9 record. Two days later, Alvernia swept the Blazers to start a stretch of 12 wins in 13 games that included a nine-game winning streak. By mid-April, the Golden Wolves were 20-10. They finished the regular season with a series loss against York, but had done enough clinch the second seed in the Conference Tournament by three games over Hood.
A balanced offensive attack is led by Mike Ramundo (.455 avg., 35 RBI, 48 runs) and Jason Kelly (.413 avg., 2 home runs, 40 RBI), but six regulars are batting over .300 on the season. While the Golden Wolves have thre players with at least four home runs, they are not nearly as home-run happy as the Falcons, swatting 21 on the season compared to the Falcons' 44. On the mound, the Golden Wolves have a trio of starters with ERAs below 3.06 and will most likely rely on relievers Ronald Kopcho (9.0 IP, 1.00 ERA), Brad Coley (16.0 IP, 2.25 ERA), and Matt Mays (18.1 IP, 4.42 ERA) throughout the weekend.
When They Met
The Falcons and Golden Wolves met in the first conference series of the season, back on Mar. 15-16. The Falcons took the first two games of the series by scores of 7-2 and 10-1, but dropped the finale, 6-4.
Evan Wagaman led the Falcons in the series, going 5-9 with five walks, six runs scores, four RBI, a double, and two home runs. As a team, the Falcons knocked five homers in the series while collecting double-digit hits in all three games. The pitching staff struck out 18 Alvernia batters while walking nine in the series.
